25th Anniversary Full Band Tour
...given enough rope
Once, I gave my cousin one half of a length of rope. More a thread really. The other half I kept. The ocean between us was to be shortened by the occasional gentle pull. I am here. Are you still here? I’m sentimental like that.
My songs sometimes feel like sentimental threads leading back to my past selves. Maybe yours as well. Maybe by now, we’re a little bit woven into each other’s lives. I like to think so. We could torture the metaphor further: maybe we’ve turned those threads into a tapestry, a safety-net, a curtain drawn against rough winds. Or maybe just an old sweater, we can’t quite bring ourselves to throw out.
I’ll leave it to a real poet, Seamus Heaney: “The rope was braided, hand-woven, rough, and frayed like the memories, tugged out of history’s stony place.” Feels about right.
I’m pulling on that frayed rope now. I am here, are you still here?
I hope so.
Tom
My 25th anniversary full band tour is on sale now :www.tommcrae.com
Ticket links here:
Hearing "You cut her hair" on a copy of the Bedroom sessions by Faithless from Mixmag, at the end of a big night out with friend...I really didn't know what to feel. There was a sadness, a reflection on a painful childhood pulling through, a sense of knowing the pain that was being sung. On buying the debut album the following day, hangover and all, I spent the day repeatedly playing it and immersing myself in to the world of Tom McRae. Those were indeed the days!
The first time I heard the opening notes to "You cut her hair" I was driving friends to Manchester airport. I've lost touch with the friends now, some time ago, but I still think of that when I hear this album. Seems like a lifetime ago but I'm still listening to the music that reminds me I used to be young, all the same.